In recent years, fuel cells have become increasingly popular, as they provide a promising sustainable approach in addressing the ongoing energy crisis and associated environmental concerns. Fuel cells have been used as sources of power for a wide range of applications that require clean, quiet, and efficient portable power.
Fuel cells convert the chemical potential energy of a fuel into electrical energy via an electrochemical reaction. A fuel cell may include a cathode and an anode, as well as a proton exchange membrane (“PEM”). PEMs typically perform two basic functions: first, a PEM serves as a separator, preventing mixing of the fuel (i.e., hydrogen or methanol) and the oxidant (i.e., pure oxygen or air); and second, the PEM provides an electrolyte for transporting protons from the anode to the cathode. PEMs have become the subject of increasing research in recent years due to their important function in fuel cells.
For best results in fuel cells, PEMs must have not only high proton conductivity but also high electronic resistivity. In addition, the PEMs should have low reactant permeation, mechanical strength under both dry and humidified circumstances, and thermal and chemical stability under fuel cell operation conditions. Most alternative-PEM materials are based on perfluorinated polymers such as Nafion and various sulfonated derivatives of non-fluorinated aromatic high-performance polymers.
A variety of PEMs are known and used in the art, but are typically high cost and/or suffer from serious disadvantages, such as high methanol permeation or dehydration at high temperatures, or they simply do not have the required efficiency. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a more economical PEM, which is also free from these disadvantages.